commercial photography tips

If you are a potential client who is looking for a great commercial photographer that you can go ahead and book, it is important for you to start things off by looking at a commercial photographer’s website. You need to know or understand what you are looking at, what to look for, and how you will be able to manage the info that you have gained from the said website at the end of the day. If you don’t know anything about commercial photography or anything like that, it would be best if you could educate yourself about it ahead of time. This will make things so much easier for you to go through with when it all comes down to it. Get things checked out the right way and you are bound to really make all of the difference in the world so get this looked into as much as you possibly can.

Look at the portfolio of the commercial photographer’s website that you are considering for the job.

This should tell you if he has managed to shoot for other clients or if there is anything else that he is capable of that you might possibly tap into as a client as well. This should also give you a chance to more or less gauge if you like his output enough to hire him for the job. The best thing about this is that you could take a look at his works and then just move on if it’s not the type of quality or outcome that impresses you. You can view things anonymously and then move on to the next prospect without ever having to leave your home or from the convenience of your smart phone. This isn’t something that other people in the past have had the luxury of enjoying so make sure that you make the most out of your internet based resource as much as possible.

Check the disclaimers page or tab in the commercial photographer’s website.

Read up on license and usage rights. It all depends on the type of project that you are trying to make arrangements for. If there is anything else that you need to confirm that isn’t being offered in the website, you can always send an email via the landing page. Most of the commercial photographer’s websites available out there will usually have a Contact page that you can use to reach out to the said photographer.

Always ask about the contract and about all of the details related to it.

Every legit commercial photographer out there is bound to have a template contract for all of his deals and all of his transactions. You need to understand everything from top to bottom before you proceed with the signing. If there is anything that you are feeling a bit confused about, don’t be afraid to ask or consult with a contract lawyer about it. This will protect you as a client and this will make sure that you don’t come up with any unpleasant surprises somewhere along the way.

Every professional commercial photographer out there knows for a fact that this is a business transaction more than anything else and that he needs to map out a certain contract for the deal before it is actually finalized. This is something that you should keep in mind as a client.

Have a contract set.

Whenever you are getting buy-ins from a commercial photographer, it is important to keep in mind that nothing is really formalized and you can’t really hold him to his words unless those words are written down in black and white.

If you don’t have proof of the deal on paper, then there really isn’t anything that’s stopping the commercial photographer from following through on his end of the deal and this is the type of thing that you need to be very careful about at the end of the day. You need to really establish this need and requirement before you can move forward with down payments and the like. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue though if you are working with an established professional commercial photographer in the industry.

Set details in contract.

There is a pretty good chance that setting up contracts and following through on them is pretty much his usual run on the mill and he is bound to give you everything you could ever need on the business side of things.

And speaking of business, it is very important that you don’t allow personal friendships or favors to cloud your judgment. In commercial photography deals, the money that is usually being dispensed is not your own. It might be your company’s or your corporation’s and this isn’t fair for the institution that you are working with so getting a really objective take on things will help make things fair and really just at the end of the day. you can take in referrals and recommendations but it is still important that you have a partial take on things all of the time.

Assess them based on the pricing, the quality of projects that they have up in their portfolios, and the feedback that they have gotten so far from their previous clients. Be very detailed with your assessments because this will reflect badly on you if you happen to book someone who turns out to be a lesser option for the job just because you happened to know him and you used your acquaintance to help him get the gig.

Always initiate sign offs coming from your end all throughout the time that the commercial photo shoot is in full swing.

Make it a point to always discuss things with the photographer that you are working with. Establish a presence in the photo shoot and feel free to speak up if you think that the theme and the direction of the photo shoot is already starting to go off tangent when it all comes down to it. The photographer will appreciate the fact that you are being very on point and on the ball with things. This also means that he will never have to bother about reshoots as well.